Childcare options in Atawhai

Kia ora!

Atawhai Playcentre is a warm, safe, welcoming centre with wonderful families and happy engaged children. Catering for ages 0-6yrs our well resourced spacious areas of play allow our children to choose from a wide range of activities that foster their creativity and imagination.

Being a playcentre we are parent-led so it is a great way to meet other parents in the community, make friends, share stories and experiences, and gather ideas and advice from a supportive network of parents and trained staff.  The centre also offers training to introduce you to playcentre as well as other parent education for your own personal and professional development.

Atawhai Playcentre is a wonderful safe environment where children are asked to respect the play of others, the rights of others and the equipment. Our fantastic team of nurturing supervisors, assistants and parents ensure our sessions are carefully set up with activities that encourage discovery, experiment, problem solving, reasoning, active exploration, interpersonal skills all while they PLAY. Trips, carpentry, sandpits, playground, obstacle course, water, sports equipment, cooking, clay, craft, art, play dough, dress up, family play, construction, music and more will keep you and your little ones engaged.

With it being well situated in Corder Park at the beginning of Dodson Valley, (a 2min drive to Clifton Terrace school and a 5 min drive north of Nelson city) it is not surprising our popular centre hosts families from the surrounding areas of Atawhai, Marybank, Todd’s Valley, Hira as well as Nelson City.

Come check us out, use your first 3 free visits to sample our different session days and times.

We are guided by both the New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum (Te Whāriki) as well as the Montessori philosophy. We see our classrooms as a community of children. Children aged two-and-a-half up to six learn alongside each other which enables the older children to be role models for their younger peers.

The environment is designed to empower children’s independence. Children participate in preparing meals or tending to the garden. When helping with food preparation, the children use real utensils. We try to create a “homely” atmosphere in our classrooms so that children feel a sense of ownership over their space. Learning in the outdoors is viewed as important and beneficial as learning inside. The children are free to move between the classroom and the outdoor area.

Children are offered 2.5 to 3 hour blocks of time to concentrate on the activities they have chosen without interruption.

For her time, Dr Maria Montessori had revolutionary ideas about the importance of the early years for human development. She believed that between the years of zero to six, children’s brains were like sponges. Montessori proposed that young children experienced “sensitive periods” for learning language, refining their senses and developing their motor coordination. For example, young children can effortlessly learn a second language whereas adults must dedicate hours of deliberate study to be bilingual.  In our classrooms, you will find materials and activities that specifically nurture these sensitive periods for learning.

As most parents know, young children often insist on doing things for themselves. Practical life activities satisfy children’s innate desire for independence by mirroring real life activities. Practicing pouring from a jug or learning to manipulate clothes fastenings satisfy their innate need to do things for themselves. 

Children are free to choose any of the activities on the shelf but are expected to return them when they are finished so the activity is available for one of their friends. This gives them a sense of responsibility for their environment.